HarmoKnight

HarmoKnight is a Game Freak product, through and through. While its nods to Pokémon are apparent in unlockable content and a Gengar-esque antagonist, the truth behind my assumption is actually buried a little deeper.

HarmoKnight is a wonderful bundle of charm and joy that doesn't really punish failure but rather encourages perseverance and dedication. There isn't even a "Game Over" when you die! Instead, the screen reads, "Oh Dear..." Reminds me of a mother who picks up a child who fell off the jungle gym, dusts him off, and gently urges him to try again. It's such a minor touch, but it's nonetheless uplifting. Maybe I'm sentimental like that.

HarmoKnight is a chaming rhythm game with good music, so far, a unique experience on the eShop of 3DS.

From start to finish, the experience is so enjoyable that it's easily recommendable to any 3DS owner with an affinity for rhythm games. If only Game Freak would step out of their Pokémon shell more often, because the result of the developer's experimentation is awesome.

Puts many retail games to shame. [June 2013, p.79]

HarmoKnight is among the best the 3DS eShop has to offer. Playtime only clocks in at around 4-5 hours, but it is a full experience. With its diverse levels, rhythm-focused gameplay, great music, and charming characters, HarmoKnight will be a memorable experience for those lucky enough to discover it.

There’s a hefty amount of content in place for your money.

HarmoKnight is one of those games that instantly charms you. The creators of Pokémon know their stuff, and among the things they know best is pure creative power, lively music and exciting creatures, all of whom are represented in this short, but sweet musical experience.

While it lasted (unfortunately not too long) it kept me entertained, since the combination of jump&run and rhythm game works surprisingly well.

HarmoKnight is a fun, rhythmic endless runner for all ages and skills. The rather low initial difficulty level coupled with inviting graphics make it good for players just getting their feet wet with the genre. The bonuses from the gold medals provide some appeal to genre veterans or those looking for a challenge. Having a much more memorable selection of music to run with would have been ideal, but as it stands, this is another fine entry in the system's eShop.

Different, original and very rhythmic. Game Freak surprises us with a videogame which isn't a Pokemon, but an original title based on the fun of pressing buttons with precision. Its direct gameplay is highly recommended for rhythmic games fans and owners of a Nintendo 3DS in general.

A thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish, HarmoKnight offers a simple concept to understand and enough challenge and variety to keep players involved.

Harmoknight has that deceptively simple, cheery, Rhythm Heaven-like quality that belies just how addictive it can be.

It’s refreshingly exacting about timing, though too forgiving when it comes to grading – you can miss several prompts, take plenty of damage and still earn gold.

HarmoKnight manages to combine attractive cartoon-like visuals with engaging, rhythm-based gameplay to create an experience which can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with genre classics like Vib Ribbon, Gitaroo Man and PaRappa the Rappa.

Albeit short and sometimes frustrating, HarmoKnight is a gorgeous and enjoyable eShop title which deserved a cartridge on its own.

Lovely art design and catchy tunes make this a pleasure to play, but it lacks the precision of, say, Elite Beat Agents or Maestro! Jump In Music.

HarmoKnight has the Nintendo polish, but you’re spending $14.99 for what is essentially a glorified mobile game.

Even though there's little to highlight, HarmoKnight entertains the player. We feel it could have been something more, but still fans of the genre should give it a try.

Its music isn't as catchy as it could be, but this is nonetheless a vibrant little gem of a rhythm game with plenty of replay value; it's easy on the eyes and a joy to play.

HarmoKnight is a colorful rhythm platformer, available through the Nintendo 3DS eShop and made by the developers of Pokémon, that will keep you busy for about six hours. Thanks to the 50 levels and solid gameplay it’s worth the pretty high price of fifteen Euros. The characters and the story are very generic though. The standard levels are the most fun as well: the game sometimes experiments with different takes, which they shouldn’t have done in our opinion.

Harmoknight combines platform action with musical and rhythmic gameplay, and does so successfully. It's a shame that the game's concept is too limited to entertain players for long, because before long, you'll be doing the same thing over and over again. It's good, but HarmoKnight just doesn't hit all the right notes.

Game Freak returns to the non-Pokémon world with HarmoKnight, a music-infused platformer that will be a light-hearted romp for casual fans of the genre—but which might not be memorable enough for more dedicated rhythm-game devotees.

In the end, though, the music needs to shine, and HarmoKnight fails to measure up to the best in the genre. We continued playing, not to see how the story unfolded, but in the hope the soundtrack would substantially improve.

With HarmoKnight, Game Freak delivers a very nice rhythm platformer. Its only real shortcoming may reside in the lack of identity of its jazz, rock or samba tracks; none of them really stands out.

HarmoKnight is not as complex as Beatmania, nor out of mind as Rhythm Paradise, but it does good work with the crossover between platform and rhythm game. The points which Game Freak may work on for a possible follow-up are many, it would be easy for them to propose something, in a short time, that does not deviate much from this title, but is more refined and studied in mechanicals.

Anybody who enjoys the music and action but hopes to see a steadily increasing damage curve through the game should definitely pick it up.

HarmoKnight Rhythm Game is a simple but funny game, which retrieves some elements of the genre to liven successfully its extreme minimal is.

Sure, it’s polished, has solid gameplay mechanics, and the graphics and characters are charming, but the reality is that a music game needs memorable music.

Although this is a game that has an extensive single-player campaign, it’s not very effective mechanics, uninspired songs and an absence of other game modes, determine the final outcome.

Harmoknight isn't a bad little tune, but its simple melody just doesn't have the strength to carry a truly memorable song.

The presentational pieces are there, and the controls tight, but when it comes to delivering a memorable set of tracks to underscore both the thematic and mechanical elements of the adventure, it doesn’t dig near deep enough. Without the joy of music to which the most successful games in the genre are conduits for, a lot of the effort and talent behind this charming game winds up feeling a little hollow.

HarmoKnight is the friendliest rhythm platformer around, but its simplicity does not always work to the game's benefit.

HarmoKnight is not attractive because of its repetitiveness. All with all it feels like a game on the wrong device.

If you're after a by-the-numbers rhythm-action experience, then HarmoKnight has you covered, but its lack of style and unwillingness to push any of its few ideas forward are a massive letdown.